As usual, I am the quietest when there is the most going on at home. I feel like I haven't posted in forever, but thanks to Blogger's post-dating feature, you haven't even missed me yet. And never fear, I'm going to throw so much at you today that you won't want to check back in for at least another week.
I mentioned last week that Trystan had his MRI of the lower spine. Despite my worries about the radiology department's communication skills, we got the results last Tuesday. They actually called our pediatrician, who called us. In any case, the MRI showed NO SIGN of a tethered spinal cord! Hooray! Whew.
They got additional pictures of some of the issues we already knew about, namely his kidneys (or rather, his kidney singular) and vertebrae. Trystan has one (I believe) vertebrae that is malformed--I will have to get the pedi to write down the exact medical termniology (because I don't get enough search engine hits on this stuff as it is, LOL). Those are things that might be more annoying as he gets older--he has a higer chance of developing scoliosis, for example. But for now, we don't need additional surgeries (except for the future heart procedure that we already know about). No stressing about nerve damage. No additional specialists. No more tests, outside of his 6-month echocardiograms (those are just ultrasounds of the heart...not invasive at all).
Over the weekend, we went to my husband's family reunion. We didn't feel comfortable with Trystan and long drives with the colostomy last year, so we had skipped the last annual get together. It was the first time that most of the family had met Trystan, though everyone had heard about all of his issues. He charmed everyone, and all loved his hair. Trystan has "angel hair" like Charlotte did--it is so white it's nearly transparent, and sticks straight up all over his head, giving him a sort of halo. Char's eventually settled down once it grew long enough. With Trystan we'll have to start cutting it short eventually so that it doesn't look so goofy. It's adorable now.
The reunion was fun. It's always a big potluck, and this year we had a gathering room in hubby's grandmother's church, including use of their gym. There was lots of room for the kids to play, and about 1/2 of Char & Trystan's generation was in attendance (so, over a dozen kids from 3 months to about 12 years old were actually there). My father-in-law is one of 13 siblings, so the family is HUGE. Both of my kids had a blast.
We had a reservation to stay the night in town before driving home, and luckily, our car made it to the hotel before it died. Yep, it died. 200 miles from our home (and from my car) in a small town on a Saturday night, where most mechanics have Sundays off. We didn't discover the problem until after we'd checked in, swam, and were leaving to find dinner. My IL's, SIL and BIL & their twins had decided not to stay the night (the twins don't do well in hotels...my kids don't do well in cars...), so we were on our own. We changed our dinner plans and walked across the street to a closer restaurant.
After dinner, we found that one of my husband's cousin's family, coincidentally, were staying in the room right next to ours. They had car battery trouble too (must be the heat and all the travel accessories), but were able to start their car and then jump ours. Unfortunately, my husband's car battery would not hold a charge, even after an extended period of highway driving. Sunday morning, my husband's uncle jumped his car again, and accompanied him to a local auto parts store to buy a new battery. Their mechanics were not in for the day, but they loaned my husband some tools, and my husband changed his own battery.
Char and Trystan thought that hanging out in a hotel room and watching cartoons was all just part of the trip. Char, especially, was devastated when she found out that we were leaving for home, and not another exciting adventure. Maybe next year, kid, assuming our cars hold out.
Yesterday it was my turn for somewhat unexpected and expensive car repairs. My airconditioning was acting a little flaky last week, and my rear brakes were running fingernails down a chalkboard at every red light. My kids went to daycare as Char had swimming lessons. My husband worked from home to be on call to help me drop off and pick up the car. I took my day-off work and cleaned the house, with my cell phone in hand all day. They didn't get it done till after 5. All that cleaning was necessary, but today I'm wishing I'd spent more time online or watching a little tv or something that didn't involve bleach or toilets.
Now I'm hoping that I'll have less real stuff to talk about for a while, so I can get back to my normal random-thoughts-from-Kristi kind of posts. Like the one about leg hair that I've been considering writing. Maybe I'll schedule that for later this week :)
No comments:
Post a Comment